Avodah Zarah, Daf Mem Het, Part 3
Introduction
Today s section opens with a mishnah that defines an asherah, the type of the tree that the Torah prohibits.
מתני׳ איזו אשרה כל שיש תחתיה עבודת כוכבים ר"ש אומר כל שעובדין אותה ומעשה בצידן באילן שהיו עובדין אותו ומצאו תחתיו גל אמר להן ר"ש בדקו את הגל הזה ובדקוהו ומצאו בו צורה אמר להן הואיל ולצורה הן עובדין נתיר להן את האילן:
What is an asherah? Any [tree] beneath which there is an idol.
Rabbi Shimon says: any [tree] which is worshipped.
It happened at Sidon that there was a tree which was worshipped and they found a heap of stones beneath it. Rabbi Shimon said to them, examine this heap. They examined it and discovered an image in it. He said to them, since it is the image that they worship, we permit the tree for you.
This section teaches the definition of the asherah, the idolatrous tree mentioned on several occasions in the Torah. According to the first opinion in the mishnah an asherah has idols underneath it, but it itself is not worshipped. According to Rabbi Shimon the tree itself is an idolatrous object. The mishnah now tells a story that happened in Sidon, where there was a suspicion that idolaters were worshipping a certain tree. Underneath the tree was a heap of stones. Rabbi Shimon instructed the other rabbis to examine the heap of stones and when they did they found an image. From here Rabbi Shimon concluded that the tree itself was not worshipped, but rather the image underneath the tree. Therefore the tree was permitted for Jews to use.
גמ׳ איזהו אשרה והא אנן שלש אשרות תנן? ה"ק שתים לדברי הכל ואחת מחלוקת דר"ש ורבנן איזו היא אשרה שנחלקו בה ר"ש וחכמים כל שיש תחתיה עבודת כוכבים ר"ש אומר כל שעובדים אותה
GEMARA. What is an asherah? But haven t we learned above: There are three kinds of Asherah trees! This is what he means: There is agreement about two kinds, but in connection with the third there is a dispute between R. Shimon and the rabbis. What is the Asherah about which R. Shimon and the rabbis disagree? Any [tree] beneath which there is an idol. R. Shimon says: Any [tree] which is worshipped.
Today s mishnah seems to imply that there is only one type of Asherah. But the previous mishnah said that there are three types. So the Talmud now reinterprets this mishnah so that it supplements the previous one. There are two types of trees where the tree itself has been worshiped and all agree that the tree is prohibited. The disagreement is over a case where there is an idol underneath the tree. The rabbis say that this too is an asherah and it is prohibited.
איזו היא אשרה סתם? אמר רב כל שכומרים יושבין תחתיה ואין טועמין מפירותיה
ושמואל אמר אפילו אמרי הני תמרי לבי נצרפי אסור
דרמי בי שיכרא ושתי ליה ביום אידם
אמר אמימר אמרו לי סבי דפומבדיתא הלכתא כשמואל:
What is considered an asherah even though it has not been specified as such?
Rav said: Any tree beneath which idolatrous priests sit but do not eat its fruits.
Shmuel said: Even if [the priests beneath it] say, These dates are for the house of Nitzrafei the tree is prohibited because they brew beer from them which they drink on their feast days. Amemar said: The elders of Pumbedita told me that the halakhah follows Shmuel.
How can one know if a tree is an Asherah? If we see someone bowing down to a tree, then there is no problem, we know its prohibited. But that is usually not the case.
Rav says that if we see idolatrous priests sitting under a tree and not eating its fruits we can assume that they worship the tree. Otherwise they would eat the fruit.
Shmuel says that even if they are going to use the dates to make beer, if they say that the dates are for the House of Nitzrafei, the tree is prohibited. This seems to have been some place of idolatry. The word is probably Persian. It appears in one other place in the Talmud (Shabbat 116a, where we learn that neither Rav nor Shmuel would go there.
The halakhah in this case follows Shmuel. Even if the priests use the dates, the tree is considered to be idolatrous.